Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Back on October 22, FAMU Student Government Association (SGA) President Tonnette S.
Graham and Vice-President Justin Bruno battled what they called an under-handed
effort to oust Elmira Mangum from the big seat in Lee Hall.

Graham cast the deciding vote against a Board of Trustees
(BOT) motion to fire Mangum that failed narrowly at 6-6. She and Bruno then held a
rally on the steps of Lee Hall that called for Chairman Rufus Montgomery, who
was at the head of the effort to terminate Mangum, to step down from his
leadership post. Bruno later took that message to Gov. Rick Scott by
leading about 100 students in a march to his office in the Florida Capitol. Rufus
resigned from the chairmanship the next day.

Yesterday, Bruno was back on the steps of Lee Hall for
another protest. But this time, he said Mangum was the one who was bringing
harm to the only public historically black university in the state.

Bruno and his runningmate Devin Harrison won the positions
of SGA president and vice-president by 163 votes. They received 1,366
to the 1,203 votes of the Victor Chrispin/Pernell Mitchell ticket. Chrispin
challenged the results with an appeal to the Student Supreme Court that asked
for a new election based on allegations of voting problems at the FAMU College
of Law in Orlando. The court ruled in favor of his request, which is now being
back by the Mangum administration.

“Dr. Elmira Mangum agreed with the (opponents’) appeal,” Bruno
said in a quote published in the Tallahassee Democrat. “That is to manipulate
the election on behalf of the (FAMU) administration and other administrators.”

Bruno appeared in front of Lee Hall with his mother, runningmate, and more than a dozen supporters. He accused the Mangum
administration of showing “bias” for agreeing to a redo of the entire
presidential election in Tallahassee and Orlando when the only reported
problems came from the Orlando campus. He also said it was unfair for the
presidential contest to be singled out when there were also elections for
positions such as Mr. and Miss FAMU and electoral commissioner.

“Everyone agrees the violations took place at the law
school,” Bruno said. “Why not consider the law school only (for a second
vote).? Why is our campaign the only one being asked for re-election? Clearly,
we are being singled out.”

He said he thinks Mangum wants Chrispin on the BOT because
they have a personal friendship that’s led her to believe he’ll help
protect her job.

“She has a better sense of security about his assistance on
the board of trustees than she has about mine, because I don’t have a personal relationship
with her, I have a professional relationship with her,” he said.

Bruno added: “So, if somebody gets elected that does not have a
personal connection to her and will not act in her favor as an advocate for her
best interest, then she might get removed.”

The Tallahassee Democrat also reported that: “Bruno said
Mangum’s bottom line decision follows a pattern that became evident during the
campaign. He alleges that Kyle Washington, student engagement coordinator
within the Office of Communications, served as campaign manager for his
opponents.”

“There is a deliberate attempt to manipulate the outcome of
this election to work in favor of the administrators that are involved,” Bruno
told reporters.

The new campaign week for the positions of president and
vice-president has been scheduled to take place from Wednesday, March 23
through Tuesday, March 29 (the new voting day). Bruno and Harrison filed an
injunction request in the Leon County Court System that seeks to either uphold
the original election results or limit the election redo to the FAMU College of
Law. They are represented by Attorney Mutaqee Akbar of Tallahassee.

Vice-President for Student Affairs William Hudson released a
statement saying that administration supports the new election process ordered
by the Student Supreme Court.

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